Eye of the Beholder (episode)
Counselor Troi's investigation into the suicide of a crewman suggests a murder was committed aboard the Enterprise while it was being built, and that the murderer is still aboard. Summary Riker and Worf are summoned to the nacelle control tube where Lieutenant Daniel Kwan is on the catwalk about to jump into the plasma stream. Riker slowly moves towards him and tries to talk Kwan down from the catwalk. Kwan replies by saying, "I know what I have to do." Kwan then jumps into the plasma stream. After Kwan's suicide the ship's crew is shocked. Captain Picard states that in his time as a commanding officer, he's had to notify families of Starfleet personnel deaths, but never a suicide. He puts Worf and Counselor Troi in charge of an investigation, in order to explain Kwan's death to his family and "try to help them make sense of this." Picard gives them the right to look at Kwan's personal logs. One of the first people questioned in the investigation is Kwan's girlfriend Ensign Calloway. Calloway says that Kwan was pretty much happy and easygoing. Calloway also says that Kwan didn't seem like the kind of person that would take his own life. Worf and Troi have already agreed that Kwan didn't seem the type to commit suicide. In Kwan's personal logs he doesn't show any sign of suicidal thoughts, mentioning the recently completed work as well as looking forward to seeing Calloway more. Troi decides that it is time to see nacelle control. She first examines his workstation, then climbs to the platform where Kwan died. There she is overwhelmed by a strong empathic impression. After being examined by Doctor Crusher, she is told to wait a few hours before returning to the nacelle tube, as she is detecting elevated psilosynine levels in the counselor. Worf, from his experience in the alternate realities where he was married to Troi, begins to think about starting a relationship with her. In Ten Forward, while Riker is having a drink with Lieutenant Corell, Worf asks the first officer if it would be alright for him to date someone he had been close to. Riker says that it wouldn't be his choice. Then Worf asks if there is anyone who Riker prefer he not date on the ship. Riker laughs and says that Worf is beginning to sound like he's asking him if he can date his (Riker's) sister. Worf realizes he's getting nowhere with the hints and leaves Ten Forward. Later, Troi returns to the nacelle tube with Worf. This time, she has a vision of a man and a woman, one of them in danger. She can tell it is in the cell where the plasma stream is held. Then the vision is of a man and a woman laughing at her, but not actually her, but whoever's eyes she was looking through. After the vision Worf takes Troi to Dr. Crusher. Crusher assumes that because Kwan was half-Napean that he may have gotten the same vision as Troi. Since the Napeans are also telepathic it is a possibility. Crusher also tells Troi that she may be able to give her an inhibitor in order to manage the emotions she was feeling during the experience. While waiting sixteen hours for the inhibitor to be synthesized by Dr. Crusher, Troi goes over the computer logs to see if anybody else aboard the had worked with Kwan in at Utopia Planitia when nacelle control was under construction. In the logs she sees the man from her vision: Lieutenant Walter Pierce. Troi and Worf decide to question Pierce in engineering about if he remembers anything about Kwan or from during the building of the Enterprise. Pierce doesn't tell Troi and Worf much of anything. Troi can't tell if Pierce is lying or what Pierce is really feeling, but thinks he may be lying. Worf escorts Troi to her quarters. Worf says that maybe they should start earlier the next morning. Worf then says good night, but doesn't leave. Worf takes Deanna's hand, touching her hand to his face, then sniffing her hand. Worf then embraces Troi in a kiss, a long kiss. The next morning Worf is still in Troi's quarters. Crusher summons both of them to the sickbay, Troi for her inhibitor and Worf to supervise the transport of medical supplies to the cargo bay for Barson II. They walk in together. Troi notices the way Worf acts toward Ensign Calloway. This leads Troi to later ask if Worf is sorry for having been with her. Worf says no, he doesn't. Troi goes to investigate the cell where the plasma stream is kept. Lieutenant Nara states that Kwan had been in the cell the day before he had jumped and vaporized himself. After Geordi La Forge removes one of the bulkheads he detects Human DNA. Troi gets another vision of the woman being attacked. La Forge and Data remove a skeleton. Ensign Calloway sequences the DNA sample and matches it to Starfleet records and finds Marla Finn. Troi says that Marla Finn was indeed the woman in her vision. She says that something doesn't match up and pulls up Lieutenant Kwan's record. She realizes that it could not have been Kwan's eyes she was seeing through as he wasn't posted to the Enterprise until about six months after Finn's death. It must have been either of the men in the vision. She realizes that it was Lieutenant Pierce's eyes she was seeing through when she sees her reflection in the computer panel. Troi finally understands that Pierce must somehow have telepathic abilities since she could not read his emotions before and because she also sees him in the visions. Troi and Worf head to ask Pierce some questions, but Worf says that the inhibitor may still leave him lying so Worf goes to question him alone. Troi returns to her quarters when Pierce shows up. She calls for security. Pierce says that Worf told him to go to Troi. When security officers Kellogg and Garvey arrive, Troi asks where Worf is and Pierce says that he is with Ensign Calloway. Pierce is taken away and Troi finds Worf and Ensign Calloway in a kissing embrace. The two start to laugh at her. She responds to the laughter by shooting Worf dead with a phaser. Distraught, she then runs to through the corridors to nacelle control, running into Lieutenant Pierce who tells her, "You know what you have to do." She gets to the nacelle tubes, opens the plasma panel, and walks up to the catwalk and stares into the plasma saying, "I know what I have to do." Just as she is about to jump into the plasma, Worf grabs her by the shoulder, whereupon it is revealed that her uniform has changed. The preceding events were a hallucination going back to when she had the initial vision in the spot where Kwan committed suicide. The investigation ends with Troi telling Picard in the observation lounge that Kwan had been affected by some sort of telepathic leftover from Pierce's memories. It turns out that Pierce had found his girlfriend Marla Finn in an embrace with another man and killed them before throwing their bodies into the plasma stream to cover up any hint of murder, and then jumped in himself. The reason the account had seemed to be sent telepathically is because Pierce's maternal grandmother had been a Betazoid. Worf asks Troi why she had seem surprised to see him alive when he pulled her from her hallucination. Troi replies that in her version of the vision, Worf was killed. Worf asks her who had killed him, and Troi replies, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Memorable quotes "Counselor. When I pulled you from the plasma stream you seemed... surprised I was alive." "Well, actually... in my hallucination, you were killed." "May I ask by whom?" "Well, you know what they say, Mr. Worf. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."" : - Worf and Troi "They laughed at me!" : - Daniel Kwan, shortly before committing suicide "I know what I have to do..." : - Daniel Kwan s last words before vaporizing himself "In my years as a Starfleet captain, I've had to... notify many parents of the loss of loved ones but never before to suicide." : - Picard "Geordi, would you agree that the instinct for self-preservation is shared by most lifeforms?" "I'd say it's probably the most basic instinct, Data." "Hmm. That being the case, I find it difficult to understand why someone would deliberately terminate their own existence." : - Data discusses his lack of understanding about suicide to La Forge "Is there someone in particular that you're talking about?" "No. Is there someone in particular you would rather I not be involved with?" "Mr. Worf, you sound like a man who's asking his friend if he can start dating his sister!" "No! No, I was merely... never mind. Excuse me, sir." : - Riker and Worf Background information Story and production * Because regular Marina Sirtis stand-in Nora Leonhardt was busy, filming her scenes as Marla Finn on Paramount stage 8, Second Assistant Director Arlene Fukai got a wig from the hair department and replaced her for the light settings on stage 9, standing in for Marina Sirtis. * First UK airdate: 8 May 1996 Continuity * This episode continues the romance between Troi and Worf, albeit in illusory form since much of the episode takes place in Troi's imagination. * According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, imaginary scenarios are usually shown only from the character's point of view. This episode breaks that convention by showing Dr. Crusher speaking in sickbay as she pages both Troi and Worf on the morning after they begin their affair. * In Nacelle Control, after Troi was injected with the empathic inhibitor, the prop Commander La Forge uses is identical to the interphasic scanner seen in . * While Troi and Worf are discussing Troi's grandfather, Worf states, "Yes, I too have sought visions in fire." This statement alludes to , in which Worf travels to a temple on Boreth in an attempt to see a vision of . * The events surrounding the three past deaths are mentioned in the The Sky's the Limit short story "Meet with Triumph and Disaster". Captain Thomas Halloway debriefs a visiting group of admirals prior to the Enterprise s launch (consisting of Norah Satie, Theodorich Patterson, and ) on what he knew of the incident (that they disappeared due to a plasma accident and were presumed dead). It is one of his reasons for feeling uncertain about command. Video and DVD releases * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 85, * As part of the UK VHS collection Star Trek: The Next Generation - 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition under the "Troi" section, . * As part of the TNG Season 7 DVD collection Links and references Starring * Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard * Jonathan Frakes as Cmdr. William T. Riker Also starring * LeVar Burton as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge * Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf * Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher * Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi * Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data Guest stars * Mark Rolston as Walter Pierce * Nancy Harewood as Nara * Tim Lounibos as Daniel Kwan * Johanna McCloy as Maddy Calloway Co-stars * Nora Leonhardt as Woman (Marla E. Finn) * Dugan Savoye as Man * Majel Barrett as Computer Voice Uncredited co-stars * Arratia as Alfonse Pacelli * Lena Banks as operations division ensign * Joe Bauman as Garvey * Michael Braveheart as Martinez * Carl David Burks as Russell * Cameron as Kellogg * Tracee Lee Cocco as Jae * John Copage as science division officer * R. Cox as Bruno Salvatore * Elliot Durant III as operations division ensign * Holiday Freeman as command division officer * Bill Hagy as operations division officer * Fumiko Hamada as command division officer * Kerry Hoyt as civilian * Gary Hunter as science division officer * Marianne Lewis as operations division officer * Michael Moorehead as science division ensign * Ted Parker as Ten Forward waiter * Keith Rayve as civilian * Richard Sarstedt as command division ensign * John Tampoya as operations division ensign * Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace * Christina Wegler Miles as command division ensign * Unknown performers as ** Corell ** Lois Eckridge ** Female civilian ** Female command division officer ** Female science division officer ** Garvey (voice) ** Kellogg (voice) ** Science division officer ** Ten Forward waiter (voice) ** Ten Forward waitress ** Anaanda Ziff Stunt doubles * Rusty McClennon as stunt double for Michael Dorn * Unknown stunt performer as stunt double for Tim Lounibos Stand-ins * David Keith Anderson – stand-in for LeVar Burton * Carl David Burks – stand-in for Brent Spiner * Michael Echols – stand-in for Michael Dorn * Arlene Fukai – stand-in for Marina Sirtis * Nora Leonhardt – stand-in for Marina Sirtis * Lorine Mendell – stand-in for Gates McFadden * Richard Sarstedt – stand-in for Jonathan Frakes * Dennis Tracy – stand-in for Patrick Stewart References 2363; 2368; 2369; affair; Barson II; bluff; bone; bulkhead; cargo bay; crew evaluation; empath; field coil; field generator; fireplace; ; hallucination; hull plate; inhibitor; instinct; inter-species reproduction; Jefferies tube; nacelle; nacelle tube; nacelle room; Napean; neural net; neural pathway; neurotransmitter; nightstand; ODN line; personal log; phaser; plasma; plasma injector; plasma stream; poker; power conduit; psilosynine; quantum mechanics; refit; resonance scan; security override code; shore leave; Starbase 328; suicide; Til'amin froth; tool crate; Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards; warp coil; warp drive; warp field stabilizer; Yridian tea Okudagram references assistant parts scheduler; Earth; Mars; San Francisco; serial number; Sol system; specialist; Starfleet Academy; team leader; warp engine local control system; warp field engineering * Personnel File – Lois Eckridge (Remastered): A6 Construction Intermediate Unit; Beta Aquilae II; cellular peptide extraction; ; ; emergency field sterilization; emegency medical assistant; Emergency Medical Certificate; radical assayl; level 1 medical assistant; level 5 identification protocol; ; Psi Epsilon IV; protoplaser; (Beta Aquilae II) * Personnel File – Marla E. Finn (Remastered): ; ; J-Lee Award; ; Starfleet OSHC; warp field stabilization system ** Personnel File – Marla E. Finn (Original): Jalhal Award * Personnel File – Daniel Kawn (Remastered): D Garza Engineering Scholarship; engineering studies; Jahal Award; ; ; Psi Epsilon III; Psi Upsilon IV; ; ; second assistant team leader; (Psi Epsilon III); warp engine emergency control system; warp field dynamics ** Personnel File – Daniel Kwan (Original): J. Bruce Engineering Scholarship; Okuda Award; Psi Upsilon III; (Psi Upsilon III) * Personnel File – Alfonse Pacelli (Remastered): data flow management system; Graf Award; Kliever Citation; optical data net; ; ; ; positronic field; Starfleet Technical Services Academy; ; Tolley Citation ** Personnel File – Alfonse Pacelli (Original): Kerry Award * Personnel File – Walter J. Pierce (Remastered): assistant team leader; ; Epsilon Indi II; Huntley Award; Jahal Award; linear warp containment system; Macalintal Science Award; ; ; power conduit; subspace research; ; * Personnel File – Bruno Salvatore (Remastered): assistant testing supervisor; biomechanics; Bronze Cluster for Academic Excellence; Dietz Physical Sciences Scholarship; ; Extended Tour Citation; install scheduler; main deflector array; ; ; ; sickbay/medlab containment system; Weiss Cadet Leadership Award ** Personnel File – Bruno Salvatore (Original): Ferranti Cadet Leadership Award; ; ; Starfleet Extended Tour Ribbon * Personnel File – Darien Wallace (Remastered): Altair IV; ; Beta Ursae Minor II; bioengineering; Campbell Award; J. Bruce Award; life sciences; life support control and emergency system; life support system; linkage system; ; (Beta Ursae Minor II); ; * Personnel File – Anaanda Ziff (Remastered): ; Daystrom Award; Gabl Academic Scholarship; ; : Omicron Ceti III; quantum mechanics; quantum physics; secondary Vogt system; Starfleet Extended Tour Ribbon; ; ** Personnel File – Anaanda Ziff (Original): Okuda Award; secondary cargo transporter Retconned material External links * * * |next= }} de:Der Fall „Utopia Planitia“ es:Eye of the Beholder fr:Eye of the Beholder (épisode) ja:謎の幻覚テレパシー（エピソード） nl:Eye of the Beholder Category:TNG episodes